Reference Sources on Bulgarian History

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Reference sources on Bulgarian History

Our first consideration in dealing with Bulgarian history is that there are no comprehensive reference works performing the function of guides or bibliographies of bibliographies completly devoted to Bulgarian history. With the exeption of the guide Les Etudes Balkaniques et Sud-Est Europeennes en Bulgarie, this kind of orientational information is included in general or subject historical bibliographies. A good place to star is the supplement "Bibliografii po istorii Bolgarii (1945-1958 gg.)" in the bibliography Istoriia Bolgarii do 9 sentiabria 1944. Ukazatel' literatury 1945-1958 or the more updated "Bibliography" in the Historical Dictionary of Bulgaria.

A second important aspect is that sources written during the Soviet period usually divide Bulgarian history in two parts: before and after the constitution of the People's Republic of Bulgaria in 1944. Scholars must be aware that they strongly reflect the principles of Soviet marxist historiography.

Scholars and students interested in Bulgarian history should not overlook some good bibliographies devoted to history in the Balkan region.

For the periods not covered by any historical bibliography, we refer students and scholars to the section on the Bulgarian National Bibliography.

Bibliographical guides

Les Etudes Balkaniques et Sud-Est Europeennes en Bulgarie. Guide de Documentation, Sofia, 1966, 184 pp.
UIUC Call Number: Slavic Reference 016.9496 N214e

The first aim of this guide is to shadow light on the structure, the administration, and the activities of Bulgarian scientific institutions, museums, archives and libraries. But it also includes a detailed guide to reference works for various subjects: archeology, fine arts, law, ethnography, geography, history, literature, linguistics, education, and philosophy. The kind of works listed inlcude encyclopedias, bibliographies, dictionaries, and periodical indexes. Each entry is translitterated and accompained by a translation of the title in French. The guide is easly accessible through the following indexes: alphabetical index of the scientific organizations, alphabetical index of periodicals, name index.

Historical bibliographies

Istoriia Bolgarii do 9 sentiabria 1944. Ukazatel' literatury 1945-1958, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, Moskva, 1962, vol. 1, 551 pages + vol. 2, 307 pages.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 016.949770Ak3i

This bibliography is the result of a cooperation between the Library for Social Sciences of the Soviet Academy of Science and the Bulgarian Bibliographical Institut Elin Penin. It includes mostly works by Bulgarian scholars published between 1945 and 1958, some Soviet and foreign publications are also listed. It covers Bulgarian history till September 9th, 1944, the following period being covered by the bibliography Narodnaia Respublika Bolgariia. Istoricheskaia bibliografiia.
This bibliography includes both monographs and articles (for a list of the periodicals indexed see pages 456-480). It considers history in a broad sense: economics, politics, military affairs, literature, fine arts, science, religion, medicine, and sports. Especially the second volume is devoted to literature, fine arts, and science. The material presented in the bibliography is organized by main historical periods. Big relevance is given to the works related to the Bulgarian communist party. Considering some particular aspects of Bulgarian history, the compilers of this bibliography decided to look outside the borders of modern Bulgaria and include also some materials dealing with Romanian and Macedonian history.
The bibliographical descriptions are very good. Apart from the usual elements of the bibliographic citation, they include supplementary information on the monograph or article taken into consideration, like names of editors and translators, the presence of introductions or summaries in foreign languages, information on previous editions and translations. For collections of works, it's given their table of contents. Most entries are annotated.
The bibliography is easly accessible through three indexes: author and title index, name index, and subject index.

Narodnaia Respublika Bolgariia. Istoricheskaia bibliografiia, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, Moskva 1954, Vol. 1 1944-1947, 675 pp. + Vol. 2 1948-1952, 856 pp. There is also a third volume, inlcuding 1953-1957, but UIUC does'n hold it.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 016.94977Akin

This bibliography is meant to be the continuation of the previous one. Here the Soviet perspective is evident. Still, we think that this bibliography is not to be overlooked, since it indexes 418 Bulgarian newspapers and periodicals, and 159 Soviet periodical pubblications.
The first part of the bibliography is devoted to the liberation of Bulgaria by the Soviet Army and to the popular insurrection of September 9th. In this section are included also materials related to the history of the Bulgarian Communist Party between 1941 and 1944, and to Bulgarian foreign and national politics in those years. The second period goes from 1944 to 1947: this is the biggest part of the first volume. Great relevance is given to primary sources, like acts and laws, proceeding of congresses and speeches by Bulgarian politicians, etc. Not all the entries are annotated. At the beginning of many sections, within the paragraph called "Istochniki", are listed newspapers and periodicals for additional readings. The bibliography is accompained by an author and a subject index. The second volume as also a name index.

Narodna Biblioteka "Kiril i Metodii", 1300 godini Bulgariia, Sofiia, 1973, 364 pages.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 016.94977 S0232k

This bibliography was published to celebrate the 1300th anniversary of the Establishing of the Bulgarian State. It covers Bulgarian history from the foundation of the first Bulgarian reign in 681 to the constitution of the People's Republic of Bulgaria in 1944. It includes party and government documents, monographs, and articles written in Bulgarian between 1944 and 1972. The bibliography is organized by main subjects: foundation and development of the Bulgarian reign; democratical and revolutionary traditions in Bulgaria; Bulgaria towards socialism; international relationships; Bulgarian contributions to world's culture. Moreover there is a section devoted to Bulgarian history represented in literature works. The bibliography is also accessible through an author index.
The same material, and six more years (till 1978), is covered by a similar bibliography Tridadeset Veka Bulgariia. Istoricheska bibliografiia, Sofiia, 1980 (UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 016.94977 T736).

La science historique bulgare 1960-1964. Bibliographie, in Etudes Historiques, vol. 2, suppl. + La science historique bulgare 1965-1969. Bibliographie, in Etudes Historiques, vol. 5, suppl.
Sofiia, 1965-70. 2 vols. vol. 1: 215p., vol. 2: 472p.
UIUC Call Number: Main Stacks 949.77 B873e

Issued on occasion of the 12th and 13th International Congresses of Historical Sciences, these bibliographies include Bulgarian works published in Bulgaria between 1960 and 1969. They can be used also by students without a deep knowledge of Bulgarian language, since the bibliographic citations are translittetared and the title are translated in French. The first volume includes 1546 entries (monographs, articles, and reviews, with the exclusion of newspapers articles) organized according to the traditional marxist periodization of Bulgarian history. The second volume includes 3560 entries. Compared to the first one, it is more complete because it comprises also works on archeology, etnography, economics, philosophy, literary theory, and history of fine arts. The second volume has more accesse points: not only a name index but aslo a geographical name index, and a subjects index. The bibliography is not annotated.

Bulgarskata istoricheska nauka. Bibliografiia.
Sofiia, 1975-85. 3 vols. vol. 3: 1970-74, 741p.; vol. 4: 1975-79, 901p.; vol. 5: 1980-84, 113p.
UIUC Call Number: Main Stacks 016.94977 B871 (last volume in Slavic Library - Bulgarian Reference)

These three volumes continue the tradition initiated by the National Committee of Bulgarian Historians with the supplements to Etudes Historiques, i.e. to publish a bibliography of Bulgarian works on occasion of every International Congress of Historical Sciences. They cover the period from 1970 to 1984. They follow the same methodological principles of their predecessors, except their broader perspective: they include works by Bulgarian historians published in Bulgaria and abroad, but also the works by foreign authors published in Bulgaria or translated into Bulgarian. Doctoral dissertations and reviews are listed in separate chapters.

Akademiia nauk SSSR, Institut Nauchnoi Informatsii po Obshchestvennym naukam. Novaia Sovetskaia i inostrannaia literatura po obshchestvennym naukam. Narodnaia Respublika Bolgariia, Moskva.
UIUC has 1967-1987.
UIUC Call Number: Main Stacks 016.914977 N856

This monthly bulletin, which continues the bulletin Novaia literatura po Bolgarii (1947-1948), includes monographs, textbooks for the high school, articles and reviews from periodical publications, forewords and afterwords to literary works, reference works, and proceedings of conferences. The bibliography is mostly annotated. It covers the following subjects: socialism and marxsist and leninist theories in Bulgaria, information on the socio-political, economical, cultural and scientific life in Bulgaria. It inlcudes material in Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian, and the Baltic languages (these entries are provided with a translation in Russian language). An author and a subject index make the bibliography easy to use.

Subject bibliographies

S.Georgieva, V.Belkov. Bibliografiia na Bulgarskata Arkheologiia (1879-1966), Sofiia, Izdatelstvo na Bulgarskata Akademiia na Naukite, 1974. 478 p.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference Q016.9134977 G297b

This is the second edition, revised and expanded, of a bibliography published under the same title in 1957. The bibliography aims to collect and organize works about Bulgarian archeology. The monographs and articles taken into consideration were published between 1879 and 1966. The material is organized by eight main historical periods: primitive societies, preroman epoque, Greek colonies, Roman Empire, the Slavs in the Balkan peninsula, medieval Bulagrian reign, and Ottoman rule. Furthermore, there are setions devoted to special subjects within Bulgarian archeology: ephigraphy, numismatics, anthropology, archeological maps in Bulgaria, archeological activity and museology. The last chapter is bibliography of bio- and biobibliographical sources, it also contains good references to the most important bibliographies related to Bulgarian archeology. All the title in foreign languages, apart from Russian, are translated into Bulgarian. The bibliography is selectively annotated. There are two indexes: author index and geographical name index.

Narodna Biblioteka "Kiril i Metodii". Prabulgari. Bibliograficheski Ukazatel, Sofiia, 1981. 202 p.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 016.9090491811 C453p

This bibliography is devoted to the Proto-Bulgarians, to their migration to Europe, the establishment of their reign in the Balkan peninsula, their administrative organization, their religion, everyday life, culture, etc. It includes both monographs and articles.

Narodna Biblioteka "Kiril i Metodii". 90 godini ot osvobozhdenieto na Bulgariia ot osmansko igo. Bibliografiia, Sofiia, 1968. 86 p.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 016.94977 D64d

The aim of this selective bibliography is to cover the most significant sources on the Bulgarian liberation movement from the Ottoman Empire. It comprises approx. 400 monographs and articles. It's divided into four sections: the first two parts deal with the most important historical events which charctereized the Ottoman domination in Bulgaria. The most extensive section is the one devoted to the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The last part is devoted to the "friendship between Bulgaria and the Soviet Union". The bibliography does not consider local realities, i.e. the movements of liberation in particular towns or regions of the country. It includes works in Bulgarian and Russian languages. Some literary works are also included. The bibliography is mostly annotated.

Septemvriiskoto narodno antifashistko vostanie 1923 g. Bibliografiia, Sofiia, Partizdat, 1973. 430 p.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 016.94977 Se63

This subject bibliography is completely devoted to the September 1923 uprising. It includes only materials (monographs and articles) published in Bulgaria. Apart from the usual personal name index, it has a nice geographical name index. To get brief information on the main events and the protagonists of the September uprising, students may use the encyclopedia Septembriiskoto vustanie 1923 (Sofiia: Partizdat, 1973 - UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 949.7702 Se632).

25 godini Narodna Vlast. Bibliograficheski ukazatel, Sofiia, Nauka i izkustvo, 1969. 373 p.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 015.4977 D959

This bibliography was compiled on occasion of the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the People's Republic of Bulgaria. It deals with the development of the country under socialist rule, and covers the period from 1944 to 1968. It can be considered an alternative to the bibliography Narodnaia Respublika Bolgariia. Istoricheskaia bibliografiia. The compilers took into consideration the Bulgarian National Bibliography Bulgarski knigopis for monographs and the periodical index Letopis na periodichniia pechat for periodicals. Special attention is given to party and government decisions. Given the scope of the topic, the bibliography is selective and aims to give relevance to Bulgarian works. The entries are annotated only when the content or nature of the work is not clear from the title.

Encyclopedias

Istoriia na Bulgariia. Entsiklopediia ot A do IA, Sofiia: Bulvest 2000, 2001, 415 p.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 949.9003 Is7

This historical encyclopedia includes approx. 1740 brief entries. The entries are not signed and not all of them have a bibliography for further reading. The work is meant for beginning students and a broad public.

Dictionaries

R. Detrez, Historical Dictionary of Bulgaria, Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1997, 466 p.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 949.77003 D484h

This historical dictionary belongs to series European Historical Dictionaries edited by Jon Woronoff. It has a good chronology and a clear introduction for students just starting their studies in Bulgarian history.

Biographical sources

A.A.Ulunian, Deiateli bolgarskogo natsional'no-osvoboditel'nogo dvizheniia XVII-XIX vv. Biobibliograficheskii slovar', Moskva, 1996, 2 vols.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 949.9003 Ul 8d

This biographical dictionary collects information on the people, who took part in the movement of liberation from the Ottoman rule. The dictionary inlcudes biographies of 885 persons. The scholarly value of this source is in the bibliography, which accompains every entry. Not only are the writings of the single "actors" of the liberation movement taken into consideration, but also information on their archives and a bibliography of the works written about them.

Bulgarska Akademiia na Naukite. Instistut za istoriia. Tsanka Slavcheva (ed.). Istoricheskata Bulgaristika v chuzhbina 1944-1980. Bibliograficheski spravochnik, Sofiia, Izdatelstvo na Bulgarskata Akademiia na Naukite, 1983, 1003 pp.
UIUC Call Number: Main Stacks 949.7700992 Sl16i

This biographical dictionary was compiled on occasion of the First Congress on Bulgarian Studies held in Sofiia in 1981. It includes bio-bibliographical information on foreign researchers active between 1944 and 1980. Bulgarian scholars living abroad are also included. This dictiorany is provided with four indexes: name index arranged by country of provenience, alphabetical name index, geographical index, and subject index. A second volume was published in 1987, including information on the years from 1980 to 1985 (Bulgarian Reference 016.94977 Sl16i).

Periodical indexes

A good place to verify the bibliographical data of some important Bulgarian newspapers is the bibliography Newspapers of East Central and Southeastern Europe in the Library of Congress (Slavic reference 016.0794 Un3n). This source is also relevant to verify the LC holdings as concerns Slavic newspapers.
On the site of the Bayern State Library you can find the table of contents of the most important current historical journals (only the last 2-3 years are covered).

Bulgarskata Akademiia na Naukite, Biblioteka, ed. by E. Savova. Pokazalets na spisane "Novo Vreme" 1897-1923, Sofiia, Izdanie na Bulgarskata Akademiia na Naukite, 1950, 304 pp.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 335.405 NOVO 1897-1923 Index

This work indexes 23 issues of the journal Novo Vreme, from 1897 to 1923, thus reflecting the history of the socialist movement and the Bulgarian communist party. The index is organized by subject: philosophy, study of the socialist movement, social sciences, political issues, economical issues, October revolution and the Soviet Union, natural sciences, literary theory, belles lettres. The index is accompained by a very good subject index.
The years 1947-1956 are indexed in a separate volume (Call Number: 335.405 NOVO v. 23-32 Index).

Bulgarskata Akademiia na Naukite, Institut po istoriia. Spisanie "Istoricheski Predleg" 1944-1964. Bibliograficheski spravochnik, Sofiia, Izdatelstvo na Bulgarskata Akademiia na Naukite, 1970.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 949.77005 IS 1944-64 index

Istoricheskii predleg was one of the most important historical periodicals published in Bulgaria. This work indexes its first 20 years of publication, from 1944 to 1964. The index is made up of two distinct sections: the first one (by the bibliographer P. Koledarov) reflects the structure of the journal, going through its sections: official documents, general articles, announcements, historiography, against capitalism, discussions, lectures, materials and publications, reviews, letters, bibliography, survey. In the second part (by E.Kostova) the index is organized by subject: general and methodological articles, Bulgaria before the foundationa of the Bulgarian reign, Middleages Bulgaria, Turkish domination, Bulgaria during capitalism (1878-1944), socialist time (1944-1964), universal history, history in other nations, Bulgarian relations with othe nations, special historical sciences, archives, historiography, archeology, ethnography, historical bibliography, historical geography. The only index available is an author index.

G.I.Cherniavskii, P.S.Sokhan'. Sovetskaia pechat' o Bolgarii. XI. 1917 - IX. 1944 gg. Istoricheskaia bibliografiia, Sofiia, 1970, 385 pp.
UIUC Call Number: Bulgarian Reference 016.94977 C42s

This index is very useful for every historian, whose aim is to see how Bulgarian history was refleted in Soviet newspapers in the first half of the XXth century. It includes articles, correspondences, and materials of various nature published in 7 Soviet newspapers: Pravda, Izvestiia, Komsomol'skaia pravda, Trud, Krasnaia Zvezda, Komunist (Ukrainian newspaper), and Visti (Ukrainian newspaper). The bibliography is divided into 8 sections, each one treating a different period in the history of Bulgaria from 1917 to 1944. Each section has some thematical subdivisions. The entries are annotated only when the articles' titles are not clear. The bibliography is provided with two indexes: personal name index and geographical name index.

M.Miloseva, "Bulgarian Historical Review" marks its 25th anniversary. Bibliography and scientometric analysis, in Bulgarian Historical Review, 1999, 3-4, pp. 222-292.
UIUC Call Number: Main Stacks 949.77005 Bulg

This works attempts to index the first 25 volumes of the journal Bulgarian Historical Review, from 1972 to 1997. It organizes the descriptions according to the following subjects: history of Bulgaria, regional history, history of the Balkans, general history, methodology and historiography, auxiliary historical sciences, reviews and criticism, scientific activities, interdisciplinary studies. Within each section and subsection the descriptions area rranged in alphabetical order by author's name (first those in Roman alphabet and then those in Cyrillic). The section indexing reviews and criticism is arranged by subject. This index is easily searchable through an index of personal names and an alphabetical subject index ????

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Last updated: 01/26/06 Comments to: Helen Sullivan

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